The Latest: Crowd gathers for ‘Tribute in Light’ memorial

The Latest on the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks (all times local):

8 p.m.

Hours after the official ceremony ended, crowds lingered into the night at the Sept. 11 memorial in New York.

As darkness fell, people filled the streets around the firehouse at the southwest corner of the memorial plaza Wednesday to listen to a bagpipe and drum corps play songs saluting the terror attack victims.

The FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums led the crowd in renditions of the Irish folk song “The Wild River” and “God Bless America.”

Overhead, the twin beams of the “Tribute in Light” were visible.

Each year the city shines the powerful columns of light into the sky from Lower Manhattan to represent the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center.

___

3:40 p.m.

Sept. 11, 2001 has always been part of Tierney Crutcher’s life story. It was the day her mother went into labor with her.

And Sept. 11 was a life-changing day for Crutcher again this year: She was sworn in as a Navy seaman recruit at a Tennessee recruiting station Wednesday, two days shy of turning 18.

The Memphis high school graduate and accomplished bowler grew up in an America at war.

She says as a kid, she thought the military was only the Army and shooting people. A military career became appealing as she learned more about the different branches and choices.

Crutcher says she’s excited to meet new people, travel “and just get a different experience in life.”

She’s headed to boot camp, then sonar technician training.

___

11:20 a.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is crediting the crew and passengers who fought back against hijackers on 9/11 with protecting the U.S.

Pence spoke at the commemoration Wednesday of the hijacked Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing 40 passengers and crew.

The Flight 93 National Memorial marks the site near Shanksville where the plane went down at 10:03 a.m., after passengers fought back. Officials concluded the attackers had aimed the Boeing 757 toward Washington, D.C.

Pence says the memory of those killed in the crash is “carved into the hearts and memories of the American people.”

The terrorists also flew two planes into the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York and a fourth into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

___

10:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump has joined the military in observing a moment of silence at the Pentagon for the 18th anniversary of 9/11.

The moment of silence is traditionally observed at 9:37 a.m. — the exact time when a plane crashed into the Defense Department’s headquarters on Sept. 11, 2001, killing 184 people. But this year’s ceremony ran late, and the anniversary was observed at 9:47 a.m.

The commander in chief told families that “this is your anniversary of personal and permanent loss” and he said that their “loved ones will never ever be forgotten.”

When he arrived at the Pentagon, he was greeted by Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The president placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the memorial site.

___

9:55 a.m.

The ceremony is underway to remember the 40 passengers and crew who died after terrorists commandeered Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.

Vice President Mike Pence is the keynote speaker at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania.

The memorial marks the spot where the plane crashed in a rural area at 10:03 a.m. The San Francisco-bound plane had been diverted by the attackers toward Washington, D.C., when passengers heroically fought back.

The terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York and a fourth into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

___

9:45 a.m.

Loved ones are reading the names of those killed in the 9/11 terror attacks at a ceremony at ground zero.

Family members gathered Wednesday for the 18th anniversary of the attacks.

Memories of the victims are now being handed down through generations. A number of the readers were children who noted they had never met lost relatives — but said they loved them very much.

Joseph Henry says he was named after his uncle who was a firefighter, Joseph Patrick Henry. He says he wished he got to know his uncle and that he’s “honored to be named after you.”

___

8:50 a.m.

Donald Trump is marking his third 9/11 anniversary as president with a moment of silence as his frustration grows over what he calls the “endless war” in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida conceived the attacks.

It has been 18 years since al-Qaida hijackers commandeered four U.S. commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Like Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump is marking the day with the war still raging.

Trump participated in a moment of silence Wednesday on the White House South Lawn with first lady Melania Trump and White House staff. He was going to the Pentagon afterward to honor the nearly 3,000 people who died in the largest attack on American soil.

___

8:45 a.m.

The commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks has begun at ground zero with a moment of silence and tolling bells.

Victims’ relatives and dignitaries were gathered on the memorial plaza at the World Trade Center in New York as the ceremony started at 8:46 a.m. Wednesday. That is the time when a hijacked plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

Then victims’ loved ones began reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when a total of four hijacked planes crashed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

President Donald Trump is attending an observance at the Pentagon. Vice President Mike Pence is speaking at the 9/11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

___

12 a.m.

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with mournful ceremonies, volunteering, appeals to “never forget” and rising attention to the terror attacks’ extended toll on responders.

A crowd of victims’ relatives is expected at ground zero Wednesday. President Donald Trump is scheduled to join an observance at the Pentagon.

Vice President Mike Pence is to speak at the third attack site, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Eighteen years after the deadliest terror attack on American soil, the nation is still grappling with the aftermath at ground zero, in Congress and beyond.

The attacks’ aftermath is visible from airport security checkpoints to Afghanistan, where a post-9/11 invasion has become America’s longest war.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes rammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Shanksville field on Sept. 11, 2001.